Since September 2010, this blog has recorded the journey of this music junkie as I attempt to listen to all the music in my CD collection. CDs revisited in their entirety from start to finish - no skipping tracks, no shuffle. Compact Discs only - no vinyl, no tapes, no files.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Bee Gees - Their Greatest Hits: The Record (2001)


From Wikipedia:
Their Greatest Hits: The Record is the career retrospective greatest hits album by the Bee Gees, released on UTV Records and Polydor in November 2001 as HDCD. The album includes 40 tracks spanning over 35 years of music. Four of the songs were new recordings of classic Gibb compositions originally recorded by other artists, including "Emotion" (Samantha Sang), "Heartbreaker" (Dionne Warwick), "Islands in the Stream" (Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton), and "Immortality" (Celine Dion). It also features the Barry Gibb duet with Barbra Streisand, "Guilty", which originally appeared on Streisand's 1980 album of the same name. It is currently out of print and has been supplanted by another compilation, The Ultimate Bee Gees.
Regarding the "new recordings of classic Gibb compositions," either skip 'em or, better yet, listen to the originals. I prefer the later disco music so things get going for me at track 15 on disc 1, but it's a decent 2 disc set (would have made an unbelievable 16 track single disc of top ten hits). Like most 2 disc greatest hits compilations, this thing falls apart at the end. Oddly, in addition to singles by the trio, there's a solitary solo track from Robin. Thanks for the (kinda sorta) chronological sequencing, Polydor. It shows the growth of the group and how they adapted their music to what was popular at the time.

Billboard, December 8, 2001, p. 53


Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #49

Tracks:
Song
Album
YearPopAC
New York Mining Disaster 1941Bee Gees' 1st196714
To Love SomebodyBee Gees' 1st196717
HolidayBee Gees' 1st196716
MassachusettsHorizontal196711
WorldHorizontal1967

Words(single release)196815
I've Gotta Get a Message to YouIdea19688
I Started a JokeIdea19686
First of MayOdessa196937
Saved By The BellRobin's Reign1969

Don't Forget to RememberCucumber Castle196973
Lonely Days2 Years On1970328
How Can You Mend A Broken HeartTrafalgar197114
Run To MeTo Whom It May Concern1972166
Jive Talkin'Main Course197519
Nights On BroadwayMain Course1975716
Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)Main Course1976129
Love So RightChildren Of The World1976314
If I Can't Have You(b-side)1978

Love MeChildren Of The World1976

You Should Be DancingChildren Of The World19761


Song
Album
YearPopAC
Stayin' AliveSaturday Night Fever1977128
How Deep Is Your LoveSaturday Night Fever197711
Night FeverSaturday Night Fever1978119
More Than A WomanSaturday Night Fever1978
39
Emotion
1994

Too Much HeavenSpirits Having Flown197814
TragedySpirits Having Flown1979119
Love You Inside OutSpirits Having Flown1979115
GuiltyGuilty198035
Heartbreaker
1994

Islands In The Stream
2001

You Win AgainE.S.P.19877550
OneOne198971
Secret LoveHigh Civilization1991

For Whom The Bell TollsSize Isn't Everything199310929
AloneStill Waters1997288
Immortality (demo)
1996

This Is Where I Came InThis Is Where I Came In2001
23
Spicks And SpecksSpicks And Specks1966



Nothing from the Sgt. Pepper movie??!?

Notable Top 40 omissions: My World (#16 in 1972), Alive (#34 in 1972), Boogie Child (#12 in 1977), Edge Of The Universe (#26 in 1977), He's A Liar (#30 in 1981), and The Woman in You (#24 in 1983). Plus, I'd love to hear Barry take his turn on Grease (#1 for Frankie Valli in 1978).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I was born in 1966 so some of these songs have been around almost my entire life. That's too many memories for this space, but I will say my favorite Bee Gees track wasn't recorded by Barry, Robin, and Maurice, it's the Yvonne Elliman version of If I Can't Have You.

Okay, I'll share one. One day my sister came home with the Spirits Having Flown LP. Instead of listening to it in her room on her stereo, we listened to it on Dad's BIC 1000 turntable in the study. All the hits are front-loaded on side one of that album. We listened to both sides and then I begged my sister to spin side one again. She agreed. And we didn't get in trouble for messing with Dad's stereo (that would come later for me, as he came home early one afternoon as I was blaring Freeze-Frame loud enough to be heard across the street 😈).

Previously revisited for the blog:
Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Soundtrack (1977)

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